WOODVILLE – For more than 50 years, Sergio Ramos was an influential and beloved presence in classrooms and on the tennis courts in Tyler County schools.
Ramos died on Saturday, Dec. 27 at a Houston area hospital. He was 82.
In addition to being one of the most celebrated and winningest tennis coaches in Texas high school tennis history, Ramos taught Spanish at Woodville High School for more than five decades, served in leadership roles in his church and recently completed a stint as the Woodville Municipal Court Judge.
Ramos, a native of Tampico, Mexico in 1943, became a U.S. citizen on April 30, 1970, an achievement which he referred to as one of his proudest achievements.
In a guest column he wrote for the Jan. 22, 2015 edition of the Booster, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, Ramos told of his personal history and wrote of his witnessing history as he was an educator during integration.
Ramos, who received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, and met his wife Susan there, whom he married in 1969, came to Woodville in 1967 to teach Spanish and coach the tennis team. Through the years, Ramos’s legend grew, as he led the tennis athletes to 26 consecutive district wins.
Through his years as an educator, Ramos received bushels of awards and commendations, including the “Citizen of the Year” nod from the Tyler County Chamber of Commerce; the Texas Tennis Coaches Hall of Fame and the 3A Tennis Coach of the Year award.
In a 2015 feature story about Ramos in the Booster, one of his granddaughters, Kristyn Miller, reflected on his kind, easygoing nature. “Our Poppy is patient and genuine, kind and generous,” she said. “He really does want to see all his students succeed.”
A former student and player, Joshua Sheffield, offered a tribute on Facebook to Ramos. Sheffield, who now serves as the head tennis coach at Livingston High School, said it was Ramos who led him in his career direction, and credited his late mentor with helping him fall in love with the sport of tennis, which he said took some convincing.
“Coach Ramos has always been much more than a coach to me and I will forever be in debt to him for introducing me to the sport I love,” he wrote in his post. “I know that he is now with our Heavenly Father and I will continue to attempt to live up to the example he set for me.”
Outside of education, Ramos’s commitment to his community shone bright. He was a leader in several churches in the area, working in the music ministry, and he served in the Woodville Lions Club for many years, including a term as president.
In a 2017 story published by the American Immigration Council, Ramos was profiled. In it, he expressed concern with the hard road many immigrants face on the road to U.S. citizenship.
“I am so fortunate that I’ve never been discriminated against and was immediately accepted into the community,” he said. “I’ve always focused on making Woodville a better place.”
